Life is for living fully, living it to its fullest, as it comes, whether good or bad. We won’t recognize the best right away. Sometimes we have to live with the person, circumstance, etc. to figure that out. Sometimes it will disappear before we understand how much we loved it/them.

Sometimes we don’t even understand that we’ve been missing something, till it shows up. Let Christ’s love grow in your heart so that you can share it for all to appreciate. Brighten someone’s day today by choosing to live your life to the fullest and confounding those who don’t or won’t.

“Men and women listened when I spoke, hung expectantly on my every word. After I spoke, they’d be quiet, taking it all in. They welcomed my counsel like spring rain, drinking it all in. When I smiled at them, they could hardly believe it; their faces lit up, their troubles took wing! I was their leader, establishing the mood and setting the pace by which they lived. Where I led, they followed.” (Job 29:21-25, MSG)

“Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God.”–Corrie Ten Boom

Prayer- Lord, surely we can summon enough of your strength to at least smile at someone today. Thanks, God. Amen.

Years ago, I learned to balk at a Christmas with more than one big meal. That’s because we spent our first Christmas day together, running from pillar to post, trying to make everyone happy. So Ron, infant Judith and I trailed a mile down the road to my parents for seven am breakfast, drove through a blizzard to Gran’s for lunch an hour away and finally scurried home to serve dinner at our house for all of Ron’s family…..WHEW!!!

And who was cause of all this commotion? Me. I didn’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings. I felt guilty for saying no to anyone, so instead I hurt my own feelings…. and my family’s.

Little by little over the years, with Ron’s encouragement,we cut down to only one or two events per holiday. Today though, I find myself going to the Keenagers catered lunch and the Writer’s Nest home cooked Christmas dinner. WHEW!!!

Why? Because I can. And because all of these dear people are my friends and I love being with them. And because I decided I wanted to, with no guilt involved. It bears remembering that guilt is not from God.

Yesterday the first copy of my first children’s book, The Big Red Chair (CD included) arrived at my door. I’ll be reading it at both events. It is a happy, funny, sad love story about life and death…..

I wrote it because our smaller grandchildren didn’t understand what happened to their Afi. I expect lots of other little ones feel the same. We often unknowingly and unfairly lock them out of our grief.